This book is an encyclopedia of the names and stories of a multitude of goddesses and heroines from many and diverse cultures.
There are over one thousand here, yet the author apologizes for, and explains in the introduction, both the reasons for the sparseness of stories herein and the difficulties of research that lead to this lack of perfect information on each of these holy and revered beings. Mythographers have a tendency to neglect, ignore or omit altogether the goddesses and heroines of ancient (or modern) times. They often omit their names or mention them only in relation to a hero, god, or demigod, often falsifying even that relationship. When they are mentioned, they are often lumped together, ignoring completely their individuality and true identities. Even when named, their stories are usually told from the viewpoint of the god or hero (male). After the introduction, there is a list of Families of Goddesses and Heroines, listing them alphabetically by culture, with the goddesses listed alphabetically under each cultural grouping (several closely related cultures are generally grouped together). Then the goddesses and heroines are listed alphabetically with what is known or has been researched about them (there are some few extrapolations by the author). There is an Index of Associates after this (not alphabetically, though the goddesses within each category
are so listed). There is also an alphabetic Index of Alternative Names and Minor Goddesses, followed by a very thorough, deep-reaching, and broad-reaching bibliography, alphabetically listed by author, of books on, of and about mythology, as expressed in story, art, literature, religion, myth and song.